Contemporary 43-year-old artist Chintan Upadhyay was arrested by the Kandivali police in the wee hours of Tuesday in connection with the murders of his estranged wife Hema and her lawyer Haresh Bhambhani.
According to the police sources, Chintan was called for questioning around 11.30 pm at the police station. Chintan was questioned for over five hours after which he was formally placed under arrest. "We wanted Chintan to answer a few questions, but the latter kept giving unsatisfactory replies," said a police officer, requesting anonymity.
Deputy commissioner of police, Zone XI, Vikram Deshmane said, "After we found involvement of Chintan in the murder conspiracy we arrested him."
A team of Kandivli police on Tuesday afternoon produced Chintan and four other accused – Vijay Rajbhar, 40, Pradeep Rajbhar, 22, Azad Rajbhar, 19 and Shivkumar Rajbhar, 19 – arrested earlier in the case, before a magistrate court in Borivli.
Chintan's defence counsel Satish Maneshinde told the court that, "relations between Hema and Chintan were cordial and whenever Chintan visits Mumbai he used to stay with Hema."
Prime accused and a wanted in the case, Vidyadhar Rajbhar, had met Chintan in Jaipur a few days before the double murder. The police claimed that this meeting was part of a conspiracy. Countering this claim, Maneshinde said, "Vidyadhar knew Chintan for the last many years. The two used to interact with regards to work. Just because Chintan spoke to Vidyadhar does not mean he had a role in the murder."
He added that Chintan had last spoken to advocate Bhambhani with regards to alimony money.
After hearing the arguments, the court remanded Chintan in police custody till January 1, while earlier arrested accused persons were remanded in police custody till December 28.
Relatives and friends of Chintan, who were present at the court, refused to speak on the matter.
Bodies of Hema and Bhambhani were found wrapped in card boxes in a sewer in Kandivli on December 12.
